The invention relates to a joint for fluid transport lines for medical use, to a fluid transport line comprising the joint, to an infusion device comprising the line, to a circuit for extracorporeal blood treatment comprising the line, to a machine for extracorporeal blood treatment which is operatively associable to the circuit, and to an apparatus for extracorporeal treatment of blood comprising the machine and the circuit.
Specifically, though not exclusively, the invention can be usefully applied in the field of intensive treatment of acute renal insufficiency.
In the prior art, renal insufficiency, both chronic and acute, is treated by extracorporeal dialytic treatment, in which blood is removed from the patient through a withdrawal line (arterial line) of an extracorporeal circuit; is sent to a first chamber (blood chamber) of a device for extracorporeal blood treatment (dialyzer or dialyzer filter, or artificial kidney), and is returned to the patient through a return line (venous line) of the extracorporeal circuit.
The treatment device comprises a second chamber (dialysis chamber) which is separated from the first by a semi-permeable membrane. The second chamber has an outlet, fluidly connected to a drainage line for a discharge fluid, and generally also has an inlet, fluidly connected to a supply line of a fresh dialysis fluid.
In some treatments, especially in intensive therapy for treatment of acute renal insufficiency, one or more infusion lines can be provided, in particular a first infusion line, for supply of a first infusion fluid into the blood withdrawal line upstream of the dialyzer filter (pre-infusion), and a second infusion line, for supply of a second infusion fluid into the blood return line, downstream of the dialyzer filter (post-infusion).
To set up the treatment, the extracorporeal circuit is associated to a dialysis machine, which comprises at least one blood pump, in general a peristaltic pump, which is predisposed on the withdrawal line and is for the circulation of the blood. Usually the machine also comprises various other pumps, also usually peristaltic, for the circulation of the various fluids which flow in the other fluid transport lines: a drainage pump for circulating the discharge fluid along the drainage line; a pump for circulation of the fresh dialysis fluid along the supply line to the second chamber of the dialyzer filter; and an infusion pump for each infusion line.
Normally, during the course of extracorporeal treatment, some of the patient's physiological parameters are monitored, in particular it is usual to perform the patient's ECG.
One of the problems encountered during a dialysis treatment, especially in cases of intensive therapy, is that the rotation of the peristaltic pumps, in particular the blood pump, causes disturbances (known as artefacts) in the ECG.
This interference problem in the ECG is found both in complex apparatus, such as a dialysis machine for intensive treatment, as well as in more simple apparatus, such as an infusion device comprising an infusion line with a peristaltic pump.
The alteration in the ECG recording can lead to an indistinguishable tracing, or can cause distortions that might be wrongly interpreted and confused with signs of cardiac anomalies.